Christmas with the Gablers
My Christmas holidays began with an extra-long car ride from Bethesda to Harrisburg. It took Shana and me three and a half hours to get through the holiday traffic and wet road conditions, but luckily there was a Christmas song marathon on the radio to get us through the journey.
Over the next few days I took part in a variety of Christmas activities including: putting up and decorating the tree, baking and decorating cookies, wrapping presents, and attending a Christmas Eve Church service.
Christmas Day at the Gablers was very similar to a Blayney Christmas. Exchanging gifts, eating Christmas dinner, and dozing in front of the television took up most of the day!
I really missed spending Christmas with my family this year, but Shana’s family made me feel extremely welcome. I felt especially fortunate to be the first ‘outsider’ to take part in a Gabler family Christmas.
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of my Christmas festivities, please click here.
Written by Warren on Thursday, December 28th, 2006. Comment on this journal entry
Build Your Own Bedroom in 3 hours
It's hard to believe I have three weeks of work under my belt already; and that Christmas is only a week away. I'm settling in well to my new job, and have been kept extremely busy so far.
I want to thank everyone who has left a comment on the website. I've been overwhelmed by the great response to warrenblayney.com, and have really appreciated all the kind words and support. Please don't stop!
A few weekends ago I set about the task of furnishing the bedroom in my new apartment. The room was completely empty when I moved in, so a trip to Target and Ikea was desperately needed.
I have to say that Ikea was really something else. I never knew shopping for furniture could be so entertaining, and yet so frightening, all at the same time. After cramming the entire 'flat-packed' version of my bedroom into the back of Shana's car, we drove nervously back to Strathmore St with my headboard hanging out of the boot!
A couple of hours later and we had assembled what is now my bedroom; and all without even breaking a sweat.
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of my new apartment and more, please click here.
Written by Warren on Sunday, December 17th, 2006. Comment on this journal entry
ThanksGiving '06
Driving up to Harrisburg for the Thanksgiving holidays this year was a bit like heading into the 'Great Unknown'. I'd heard so much about the many Gabler family Thanksgiving traditions on the way there that I began to wonder what I was getting myself into! One thing I was certain of was that I would leave with a full stomach.
The holiday began innocently enough with a late night visit to the Camp Hill Diner, where Shana and I met up with Colin, Hanna, and Joe. I ordered chips and hot chocolate. Both tasted equally terrible, but fortunately the company made up for the food.
On Wednesday I decided to join Hanna at her appointment with the hairdressers. I confronted my fear and made the decision to get my haircut (as you may have already seen from the photos!).
That night I had pizza with the rest of the Gabler family before meeting Tyson and Jill (Shana's brother and his girlfriend) at the Hershey Bears ice hockey game. This was followed by a great night's entertainment at Colin and Evan's apartment.
Thursday was the official 'Thanksgiving Day', and was spent at 8 Farmhouse with the Gablers. It was great to meet Shana's extended family, as well as seeing some old friends, and meeting lots of new ones. The food was fantastic and I had a great day.
On Friday we all went to see the new James Bond in action at the local cinema. This was followed by a closely contested game of American football between the guys of the group. I walked away with 2 receiving touchdowns for 20 yards, and a 0% QB rating!
A big thanks goes out to Bob and Wanda (Shana's parents) for preparing such a delicious feast, and having the patience to coordinate such a large group of guests.
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of my Thanksgiving holidays, visit my photos page here.
Written by Warren on Sunday, December 3rd, 2006. Comment on this journal entry
